Canada's Giller prize goes to first-time novelist

Afp
Tuesday 09 November 2010 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Canada's top literary award for fiction, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, has gone to Nova Scotia-born writer Johanna Skibsrud for her debut novel "The Sentimentalists," the jury announced late Tuesday.

Now living in Montreal, Skibsrud was the first debut novelist to capture the prestigious literary prize since 1999, beating out 97 competitors.

Set in a small lakeside town in Ontario, the book describes a daughter's relationship with her father who is haunted by events during his tour of duty in Vietnam and is now slipping away in a "descending fog of senility," the jury said in a statement.

It "charts the painful search by a dutiful daughter to learn - and more importantly, to learn to understand - the multi-layered truth which lies at the moral core of her dying father's life."

The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by a Toronto businessman in honor of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. It comes with a 50,000-dollar cash award financed by Scotiabank.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in